SPAWAR and The Lowcountry

March 27, 2012: Our historic Rotary Club of Charleston was treated last week to an overview of SPAWAR by the Program Executive Officer, Mr. Chris Miller.

A native of Nashville, TN, Mr. Miller pursued a commissioning in the United States Marine Corps where he served as Intelligence Officer for various Marine Aviation Commands. Mr. Miller left active duty status in 1999 to work for Booz Allen Hamilton in San Diego, CA. While a consultant, Mr. Miller worked on numerous command and control programs for the Navy and was integral in coordinating the Year 2000 transition for the Navy’s command and control programs.

In his current role, Mr. Miller currently leads the Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (PEO C4I). He has responsibility for the acquisition and life cycle management for assigned C4I programs.

During his stated lunch hour mission to help demystify aspects of the SPAWAR organization, he told us that “Our job at SPAWAR’s C4I operations is to deploy the latest information technology systems make it possible for all naval personnel to talk to one another reliably.” He spoke to us about three basic aspects of the organization: 1. SPAWAR’s impact on the economy; 2. Cyber technology and specialization; and 3. BRAC’s likely direction.

1. SPAWAR’s contributions to the regional and state economy is huge. It is the largest employer of electronics engineers, responsible for $2.6 billion to the economy, involving a total of about 21,600 jobs in the greater Charleston market. In 2008, the organization created its Atlantic (southeast) structure that now has close to 3,600 employees generating about $5 billion in revenue. “We are focused on delivering the most reliable systems concerned with speed, quality and agility. We are moving toward a sustainable path for continued global leadership.”

2. In terms of the work SPAWAR does related to Cyber initiatives, he reminded us that “a mouse click could plunge a city into darkness.” Everything in our daily lives “is on the grid.” We will continue to rely on the unique abilities of special operations forces that are light, agile and focused.

3. Regarding BRAC issues, he said, “the reality is the outcome is more likely to be more ‘C’ than ‘A.’ As the military streamlines, we will not have the need for such a large real estate, as the forces will be more mobile and versatile. “But this is largely a political issue, and one that will be debated for some time.”

In closing, while Mr. Miller is optimistic about America’s future, he headlined that SPAWAR can’t find enough qualified people to hire and deploy. We, as a nation, need to educate people in the STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) because, bottom line, we are losing the battle in these educational pursuits that stand to secure our future.”

Submittee by Mark Danes, Keyway Committee